Ballast Financial Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL

Ballast Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,535 shares of the information services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $480,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GOOGL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 110,330 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $20,886,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,930 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY grew its stake in Alphabet by 17.6% during the 2nd quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 3,888 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $685,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Alphabet by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 485,486 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $85,557,000 after purchasing an additional 48,805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Bank grew its stake in Alphabet by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 48,204 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $8,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on GOOGL shares. Freedom Capital downgraded Alphabet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $435.00 price target (up from $427.00) on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Alphabet from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Alphabet from $355.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Alphabet in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $413.13.

Key Headlines Impacting Alphabet

Here are the key news stories impacting Alphabet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Alphabet’s Google Cloud is gaining momentum, with HSBC announcing a multi-year partnership to expand its AI usage on Google Cloud, and another AI startup, Ineffable Intelligence, choosing Google Cloud as its preferred infrastructure partner. These deals reinforce Alphabet’s position in enterprise AI and cloud growth. HSBC partners with Google Cloud to expand AI usage
• Positive Sentiment: Google also unveiled a new Gemini-powered Google Home Speaker and broader Android 17/Gemini updates, highlighting continued product rollout across consumer devices and AI features that could support ecosystem engagement over time. Google bets on Gemini to reinvent the smart home speaker
• Positive Sentiment: At the G7, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis joined other AI leaders in calling for a U.S.-led AI coalition, underscoring Alphabet’s influence in shaping the AI industry and keeping Google front and center in policy discussions. CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind call for U.S.-led AI coalition in meeting at G7
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces remain mixed, with some still bullish on Alphabet’s AI and cloud growth while others warn that heavy capital spending, competition, and a stretched valuation could limit upside near term. Alphabet Drops 6% in a Month: Buy, Sell, or Hold the GOOGL Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Alphabet faces fresh regulatory pressure in the U.K., where the competition watchdog set conduct requirements for Google Search to increase fairness and transparency in ranking results. That adds to worries about search monetization and long-term control over its core business. UK regulator sets out conduct requirements for Google’s search services

Alphabet Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of GOOGL opened at $363.79 on Thursday. Alphabet Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.00 and a 52 week high of $408.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $364.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $331.35.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information services provider reported $5.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $2.47. Alphabet had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 37.92%.The firm had revenue of $109.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.98 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alphabet Inc. will post 14.3 EPS for the current year.

Alphabet Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. This is a positive change from Alphabet’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Alphabet’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.71%.

Insider Transactions at Alphabet

In other Alphabet news, Director Frances Arnold sold 102 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.00, for a total transaction of $38,862.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,132,701. This represents a 0.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Hennessy sold 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $393.26, for a total value of $412,923.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,531 shares in the company, valued at $995,341.06. This represents a 29.32% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 159,466 shares of company stock valued at $6,957,543. 11.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Alphabet Profile

Alphabet Inc is the holding company created in 2015 to organize Google and a portfolio of businesses developing technologies beyond Google’s core internet services. Its principal operations are led by Google, which builds and operates consumer-facing products such as Google Search, YouTube, Android, Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Workspace, as well as advertising platforms (Google Ads and AdSense) that historically generate the majority of its revenue. Google also develops consumer hardware (Pixel phones, Nest smart-home devices, Chromecast) and developer and distribution platforms such as Google Play.

Beyond Google’s consumer and advertising businesses, Alphabet invests in enterprise and infrastructure offerings through Google Cloud, which provides cloud computing, data analytics and productivity services to businesses and institutions.